Monsoon rains threw normal life out of gear in Maharashtra, Odisha and North India, leaving 2 dead and several missing.
Heavy rains continued to lash most parts of Maharashtra, especially Mumbai for the second consecutive day on Friday, affecting road and rail traffic since morning, said officials. Railway tracks have been flooded at various points on the Central Railway and Western Railway networks serving the city.
A railway official said that several trains in both directions on the two routes (Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-New Delhi) have been regulated at various stations until the water levels recede.
ADVERTISEMENT
In Mumbai, several low-lying areas have been waterlogged in the city and suburbs, hitting vehicular movement badly.
Weather Bureau Director V.K. Rajeev said that heavy rains are expected to continue over Mumbai, coastal Konkan and other parts of the state for the next two days.
Meanwhile, in Odisha, two women were killed, while two were swept away after a flash flood ravaged Malkangiri district, Revenue Minister Surya Narayan Patro said on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
At least 100 people were given shelter in a local school after flood water gushed through their homes in the region, he added.
Agra too was hard hit by three spells of heavy showers since Friday morning. Water-logging was reported from different parts of the city, but the Taj Mahal stood washed and sparkling.
Traffic snarls have affected otherwise busy commercial areas. Heavy rain had lashed the city on Thursday too. Low-lying colonies were inundated.
With the Taj closed on Friday, tourists flocked to Mehtab Bagh at its rear for a glimpse of the (17th century) monument of love, now rain-washed and sparkling, the dense green foliage too washed to freshness and the Yamuna, for change, actually full of water,” Amit Sisodia of the NGO Agra Beat said.
The weather department has forecast rains till Sunday.